By Kyra R. Greene
As I was preparing to start my new teaching job at San Diego State University in the fall of 2007, I got a call from my father. It was an ordinary call at first, but then he got serious.
He wanted to know if I was planning to join my university’s faculty union. I knew the answer to that question right away: “Yes, Dad.”
After all, with me, our family would enter our third generation as trade unionists — while black. [Read more…]
By Michelle Martin, PhD Cal State Fullerton / Reposted from Facebook
Have you heard that children were separated from their parents under Obama & Clinton? Then, you need a little Facts vs Myths lesson. Michelle Martin, PhD Cal State Fullerton summed up the most important FACTS:
There is so much misinformation out there about the Trump administration’s new “zero tolerance” policy that requires criminal prosecution, which then warrants the separating of parents and children at the border. Before responding to a post defending this policy, please do your research…As a professor at a local Cal State, I research and write about these issues, so here, I’ll make it easier for you:
Myth: This is not a new policy and was practiced under Obama and Clinton. – FALSE.
The policy to separate parents and children is new and was instituted on April 6, 2018. It was the brainchild of John Kelly and Stephen Miller to serve as a deterrent for undocumented immigration, approved by Trump, and adopted by Sessions. Prior administrations detained migrant families, but didn’t have a practice of forcibly separating parents from their children unless the adults were deemed unfit. [Read more…]
By Rebecca Paida
The saying goes, if you are not at the table, you are on the menu! This statement suggests that advocacy by supporters is essential but that lived experiences also matter. If people with first-hand experiences of a particular phenomenon are not part of decision making processes, then they will likely get left out. For many underrepresented and under-served populations, including refugees and immigrants in the San Diego region, this is a reality that they must confront. While some residents actively participate in civic discourse at the community level, that is the extent of their contributions. This is in part because they have little or no opportunities to affect policies at the City level and beyond, due to a lack of inclusion.
By John Valdez / Lemon Grove Oral History Project
In 1930, a small rural community in the county of San Diego, California, called Lemon Grove was home to a hundred or more Mexican-American families. These families were mostly situated on Olive and North Avenue Streets near the central avenue called Broadway. The only elementary school was called Golden Avenue School and it’s there that this story begins.
The Lemon Grove School Board members voted to build a separate school on Olive Street for the 75 Mexican-American students who were attending the Golden Avenue School. As the Spanish speaking members of this quiet community became aware of the board’s decision to remodel an existing barn-like structure for all the Spanish speaking students, thereby creating a separate school for them, the families of these children dissented. [Read more…]
By Kathy Stadler
With so many events taking place around the immigration travesty, it seems one may have gone under-noticed. During the PICO California statewide day of action today, it was clear that the people being detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, could hear the protesters outside and tried to make contact – shouting and drumming.
PICO California, “the largest multi-racial faith-based community-organizing network in the state” organized a statewide weekend of action that began on Friday evening at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church. Faith leaders, PICO volunteers, and others came from across the state (including but not limited to Redondo Beach, Santa Ana, San Francisco, Bakersfield, and Fresno) for the Let Our Children Go action.
Friday evening included a vigil, interfaith service, and a training in non-violent civil disobedience. Many folks spent the night at the church and started organizing early Saturday for the action at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Posters and noisemakers were made, blessings were written to send to people inside the Center, peacekeeping was organized, more tactics of non-violent civil disobedience were taught. Just after noon, hundreds headed to the Detention Center. [Read more…]
By Douglas Rawlings
NUMBER 7
I was a
Good Humor Man.
I lost my job
I got drafted.
I can never
go back again.
I lost my
Good Humor.
I lost $80.00 a week
I can never
have it again
You gain goodwill
being a Good Humor man.
You establish a route.
You make friends.
I lost them all:
my bike my cart
my bell
are all gone now.
My smile too.
All my friends
cried
on the Last Day. [Read more…]
By Douglas Rawlings
LEAVING THE INDUCTION CENTER
We were now
all riders
on those olive drab
government buses
trying to make some sense
out of this thing
they called military justice.
Still a bunch
of minors
digging about
in our own little ruins [Read more…]
By Cassandra Shafer
Wedded, divorced, widowed and single
Our households have fractured and blended to mingle
Half-siblings, step-siblings, foster kids small,
Bio-moms, step-moms, adoptive moms all.
Catholic, Jewish, Quaker, Unitarian,
Atheist, Mormon, Pagan, Presbyterian.
Gun toting, weed smoking, sober and clean.
Democrat, Trumpian, Communist, Green.
Bi-racial, bilingual, bi-sexual—a few—
Bi-continental and bi-polar, too. [Read more…]
By Lauren Botuck
Within a minute I knew
he is really good
His enemies die
the way that they should
He is special and smart
just like me!
Will he tell me his secrets?
will he let me see? [Read more…]
By Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Project Staff Attorney / ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties
On June 7, Tiana Smalls, whose Facebook profile describes her as owner of Fire Flower Beauty Company, was riding a Greyhound bus from Bakersfield, California to Las Vegas, Nevada. As the bus approached an agricultural checkpoint at the Nevada state line, Ms. Smalls said the driver made an unusual announcement: “We are being boarded by Border Patrol. Please be prepared to show your documentation upon request.”
Ms. Smalls immediately reacted. According to a description she posted on Facebook, she stood up and loudly said, “This is a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights. You don’t have to show them *shit*!!!” She then used Google Translate to repeat her message in Spanish, reassuring the Spanish-speaking woman sitting beside her and probably countless other fellow passengers.
Border Patrol agents boarded the bus and started to ask the passengers for their “documentation.” Ms. Smalls stood up again and shouted, “You have NO RIGHT to ask me for anything! This is harassment and racial profiling! We are not within 100 miles of a border so [these agents] have no legal right or jurisdiction here!” [Read more…]
By Mark R. Day
Like many Americans, I have grown weary of the squabbling pundits on cable television, and tired of fulminating at the latest gaffes and missteps from the man in the White House.
So when a neighbor suggested I get out the vote for the June 5 California primary, I joined the Democrat’s effort in North San Diego County to flip the 49th Congressional District —the seat left vacant by Republican, Darrell Issa.
When I told the recruiter that my first canvassing job was with Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 California primary, his jaw dropped.
“That’s awesome,” he said. ”You made history.” [Read more…]
The following has been reposted with permission from Facebook.
This afternoon, I called Mike Levin to congratulate him on his victory in CA-49.
While there are still thousands of votes left to be counted, it’s time to bring our party together and turn our efforts and attention toward making sure Diane Harkey does not go to Congress.
I’m so proud of everything that we did together. Because of our collective efforts, our district saw the largest turnout in any Congressional race in all of Southern California. More people voted for a Democratic candidate than a Republican one in this election. We had new registrants, young people, people of color, and other communities that normally don’t make their voices heard in an election come out and cast a vote. [Read more…]
